Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, I mentioned this in the california kingsnake sub-forum. I had asked if it hurt to be bitten by a snake, and all have told me no. Good to know. I have also read that it is sometimes best to experience a bite, I guess a way of settling your nerves or "facing your fear" or something like that. I have handled snakes for several years, and have never been actually bitten, so I have never experienced the "hit" as many describe it. I was just curious, (as I am wanting to get into some of the arboreal species of pythons and boas, both of which are notorious for being snappy when young. also the young cal we bought for my 4yr old son's b-day, was a bit snappy when we first got him. has since settled down a bit, though still musks when nervous), how should you react as not to further stress the snake, and to still enstill trust? I am only worried that if I flinch (very likely to happen) that it might startle the snake as well, and make it even more difficult handle. Also, do they latch on and/or coil around your hand, or is it more of a strike and release, maybe even striking more than once? Once more, if they do latch on, what is the best method of removing them without causing harm to the snake? I hate asking such questions as they sound beyond novice and inexperienced. I have just never had the issue come up yet, and the other snake keepers I know in the area are strictly ball python owners, and they don't have any answers for me either. I'm sure most of this will come with experience, life has a funny way of doing that, but any information is also helpful. Haha. I hope you all well, thanks in advance for any insight.

if bitten, dont or try not to yank ,jerk or pull cause the lil teeth may become inbedded in your skin leading to possible infection,and not great for the snake either.
just let em chew for a few seconds and they will generally let go . make sure your Cal king is not trying to consume your finger it may continue chowing on your finger . an alcoholic bevy poured on the bitting snake will make him release.remember nothin worse than a drunk snake LOL.
btw Green tree pythons still freak me out i have a male that i still use leather gloves to the elbow ,to avoid blood loss.The females are touchable but cautiously

I think that getting bit is more of a shock than a painful situation, i feel as humans it is instictual that something with no arms and no legs jumping at you is "scary". and from past experience it is over before you realize it. getting into juvie aboreals is a great way to find out what getting bit is like. i have been stuck at my amazon tree boas and emeralds, but have only been "hit" by a baby green tree, its didnt feel good but it wasnt all that painful, obviously the bigger the snake the bigger the bite, so if you start with a young one by the time it gets big and it is still biting you will be used to it. and you will learn how to read the animal, and find ways to work around the attitude. hope some of this helped

Adam
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3.5 THAYERI
1.2 SPLENDIDA (1.0 ALBINO/ 0.2 HYPO)
1.3 ALTERNA
1.1 CAL KING (1.0 ALB.LAVENDER/0.1 BLIZZARD)
0.0.1 HOLD BACK RUNT ALBINO CORN
0.1.1 pyxie
0.0.2 horned frogs

The worst bites are feeding response bites where the snake coils around your hand and won't let go.

Just be careful when reaching into the cage and also make sure you wash any mouse scent off your hands before handling any snake.

I know it may seem a novice question, i just haven't really seen any posts asking it though. I have been fortunate never to have been bitten, but I am aware that with certain species it more common than with others. I have been bitten by small lizards, never had any blood drawn, and of course I have been completely torn up by cats. I can assume that a snake bite would not hurt any more than have your hand ripped to shreds by a cat, but then again I am used to being scratched and bitten by cats. I guess a snake bite would be more of a shock, and after being bitten a few times, I would be used to it. I have done sheet metal work, and have never had a cut or scratch that has ever hurt, no matter how much blood was spilt. lol. But I thank everyone who has responded, and the guarantee that I will be bitten by a snake in the future has in no way deterred my desire to own these beautiful and mysterious animals. Thanks again for replying.

"of course I have been completely torn up by cats. I can assume that a snake bite would not hurt any more than have your hand ripped to shreds by a cat"

I'd take a snake bite over a cat scratch any day. A typical cat scratch is an open laceration, inflicted by a bacteria infested claw (just think of all the places a cat's paws frequent). The typical snake bite (non-ven) is a series of pin pricks and perhaps a couple of minor lacerations, inflicted by a suprising clean mouth (unless the snake just ate something nasty).

I been bitten hundreds of times by wild and captive snakes (mostly colubrids). I have only bothered with antiseptic a few times. From all those bites, I've only suffered one minor infection, and it was probably a secondary infection from washing the blood off in the mucky pond where I took the hit.

Thanks Eby, the comparison does put it into perspective. I have lived with cats for most of my life, over 20 years experience, and have dealt with some pretty nasty felines during that time. I have only been dealing with snakes for 8 years, and even then my experience is limited to 1 ball python, 2 kingsnakes, 1 baby cornsnake, a problem feeder that only lived for about a month after I bought him, sad, and an albino yellow rat snake. The rat snake was very aggressive and would strike repeatedly until picked up, then would musk and twist and spin like crazy once out. He wasn't handled much, before or after purchase. A decision I have often regretted, but since it was placed in the custody of a friend, I didn't have much opportunity to work the snake. I have been known to be able to enstill trust with most animals I spend time with (there is always the exception, of course), I wish I had more chances to work with this one. I have a good repore with the pet store, and they know that I can handle most animals in there. Like I said, I have just never had the situation come up yet where I have been bitten, so I have always been wary of it. Not so much with the pain, but rather with the initial shock of seeing a snake strike, and making contact. lol. Thanks again for the comparison, and I feel confident with my decisions to include more species in this collection. Being bitten is part of the game, gotta get used to it, right? lol. Peace.

I have never taken a hit/bite form a python so I can't help you there, but colubrids is another matter.

When I was younger I liked to try to catch any snake I saw, corn, milk, garter (all nonvenumous). I took plenty of bites. My king snake Dora has sunk her teeth in to me twice.

From this experience I can tell you that it is just a sharp pinch with maybe a tiny bit of blood. No big deal. They always let go, eventually. Dora held on for a minute or two.

The thing to do, from my experience, is to not fight the snake. Strugling can triger a hunting response and cause them to clamp down harder. And always hold them jently, being ruff with the body could cause them to bite harder too.

Don't forget to wash out any bites with antibacterial soap, all reptiles carry salmonilla.

To keep your pets from biting I find it is best when you first pick them up to move slowly so as not to startle them. If you can get them to crall over your hand then pick them up slowly that works well.

Another trick that may or may not work for you.
With a particularly bitey, but not skitish snake, you can pick them up when their mouth is full. With two young and bity king snakes my sister used a cardboard tube to get them out of their tanks and put them in the feeding pen (not at the same time).
She would then clean their tank and water bowls wile they were eating. When they were up to the hips on their last mouse she would pick them up and put them back in the tank. Being picked up did not slow their feeding at all, they just kept swallowing.

Hope this helps
AR
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Love snakes, the morph the merrier.

1.0 normal ball python Nicodemus
0.2 albino banana kings Dora and Queen
1.0 lavender albino king Ace
and more to come...

If you keep snakes long enough you will get bitten. It is no big deal, except for bites from big pythons and boas (10 footers).

the other snake keepers I know in the area are strictly ball python owners, and they don't have any answers for me either.

Ball Python bites draw serious blood! The don't bite often, but they sure have long teeth.

Non-venomous snake bites usually don't hurt and if you can get by the surprise without freaking out, it is not a problem. The thing that makes people flinch is the surprise of the unexpected bite, rather than any pain associated with the bite itself.

This was a recent bite I got from a Pituophis d. jani in northeastern Mexico. It bled a bit, but was pretty much painless.

As for removing a snake that has latched on (usually a feeding response), I think the best thing is a little dab of alcohol gel on the side of the mouth. This will cause them to immediately let go.

I observed this in action a few weeks ago when there was an "unfortunate incident" involving someone's earlobe and a Texas Alligator Lizard. The lizard couldn't be convinced to let go until some alcohol gel was spread on his mouth.

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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

Ball Python bites draw serious blood! The don't bite often, but they sure have long teeth.

Conventional wisdom on BPs is that they are docile and never bite. This is simply not true. I have been struck at and bit by adult BPs on several occasions. Gravid and brooding females have strong defensive behavior including hissing, striking, and biting for effect. They do have long teeth, and consequently can draw an impressive amount of blood.

An interesting BP behavior I have observed is their response to warm blowing air, e.g, from a blow dryer. This will turn the most placid, docile BP into a pretty fair imitation of a Puff Adder on crack.

I observed this in action a few weeks ago when there was an "unfortunate incident" involving someone's earlobe and a Texas Alligator Lizard. The lizard couldn't be convinced to let go until some alcohol gel was spread on his mouth.

Owtch! That's hilarious, and looks painful. That wasn't your personal earlobe, was it Chris? I hope that was an accident. I would hate to think someone would sneak up behind an unsuspecting victim and apply a LIZARD to their EARLOBE!

Regards,

John D.

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I am so not lesdysxic!

0.1 Creamsicle Cornsake "Yolanda"
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake "Steely Dan"
0.1 Desert Kingsnake "FATTY"
0.1 Black Rat (WV Rescue) "Roberta"

Owtch! That's hilarious, and looks painful. That wasn't your personal earlobe, was it Chris? I hope that was an accident. I would hate to think someone would sneak up behind an unsuspecting victim and apply a LIZARD to their EARLOBE!

The funny thing is that an otherwise intelligent human being (not me) volunteered to put it on his earlobe on a dare. (We actually dared him to put it on a nipple!)
He was laughing as well until it really started clamping down. Of course, we helped by laughing histerically and tapping the lizard to make it bite down harder.

Fortunately, the blood was Rob's - no lizards were harmed in the making of these pictures.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

I had mentioned that since most of the snake owners here are keepers of ball pythons, so I didn't have any references to snake bites from them. No one has mentioned to me about ever being bitten by one, and the pet store owner here stated to me that if I was bitten by a ball python, I would have to do something seriously wrong. That statement kind of irritated me, since I don't believe any animal is immune to striking out at some time or another. I disagree with her on many points, and generally only use her store when picking up supplies, not routinely for purchasing animals, and certainly not for advice. The ball I used to have would hiss (though very rarely) and he did strike at me once. He missed, only hitting my hand with the side of his mouth, so I of course don't count that as a bite. It was accidental though, as I used to hand feed him, holding the mouse by the tail and he would strike and take it from my hand. I made the mistake of trying to change his water dish on his regular feeding day, every friday, after handling the mouse. Of course, I didn't make that mistake again. Other than that, he was dog tame, went everywhere with me, even to bars when I went to shoot pool. Would even come to the top of the cage when it was opended and crawl right onto my hand or arm. He was a hit with everyone, never showed any signs of aggression, and was the reason I wanted to keep other snakes. Thanks again for the response, all information has been very helpful, and I am looking forward to being bitten, err, I mean owning some more aggressive snakes. lol.

Hello!

I can say, I've been tagged mote times than I care to remember. Does it hurt? Yes, of course. Some "tags" are more irritating than others.

Recently, I was tagged by an adult male Green Tree Python, during feeding time. I bled a decent amount and my arm bruised right away, haha! It took about a week and a half for my arm to fully heal.

Today, I just changed that very same snake's water. You know the saying, once you fall off the horse, get back on! It (the GTP) is my new buddy.

Good luck!

Flinching is a natural reaction (or at least it is for me) when my Cal King jerks. It's not a bad thing if you catch yourself and follow through with your original intent. I've found that continous flinching just makes the snake suspicious. As to your other question, if your snake latches on, don't try to jerk. Sometimes snakes get confused, especially during/after feedings and will latch on to ANYTHING within reach. My own four year old snake did this for the first time this year and released my finger immediately after the bite and has not bitten me since. If your snake is stubborn, I've heard that cold water will often make snakes release. Hope this helps!